Independent works to air
By Emily Rosenbaum
Staff Reporter
Some underground comedy soon
will see the light of day.
A nationally televised comedy
show starting this fall will feature the
work of student and independent film
makers, videographers and anima
tors.
Mark Cohen, co-producer of
“Underground Comedy,” said the
show will give exposure to short
films, comic sketches, animated
pieces, political satires and commer
cial parodies.
It will be the first weekly televi
sion program to broadcast the work of
independent producers, Cohen said.
He said the show will stay away
from stand-up comedy and focus on
areas that haven’t received as much
national attention.
“I believe that such a showcase
will be a new fertile source of much
needed creativity for the expanding
broadcast entertainment industry,”
Cohen said.
Material for the 30-minute pro
gram will be selected from submis
sions sent by independent producers,
Cohen said.
‘‘We’re counting on the quantity
and quality of the material we re
ceive,” he said.
Cohen said the material the show
already has received is enough to do a
few shows and much of it is “very
funny.”
Carolyn Fox, an East Coast morn
ing radio personality, will serve as
host of Underground Comedy,”
Cohen said.
“Fox fits into the category known
today as ‘shock jocks,”’ he said.
The program went into pre-pro
duction Sept. 5 at a Boston film and*
video company and will be ready by
late fall. Negotiations are still being
made with television stations to air
the show, Cohen said.
Cohen, a comedy writer, actor and
former owner of a production com
pany, started out as a student film
maker. It’s often frustrating looking
for a break in this competitive and
crowded field, he said.
He said his experience gave him
the idea of producing a show like
“Underground Comedy.’’
Those interested in submitting
their work for consideration can send
for an information kit from:
Editel/Boston, Underground
Comedy; 651 Beacon Street, Boston,
Mass. 02215-3278
MISS from Page 14
eant talent - after learning percussion
in sixth grade.
• Collects “surgery souvenirs"
from her veterinary operations, in
cluding a small piece of her cat's
backbone and puppy fetuses.
Miss Turner emphasized that she
is ‘ a normal person who grew up in a
comfortable, middle-class home who
was given love and taught how to
work hard for goals and not give up,
not be discouraged by obstacles.”
But Miss Turner’s father, Freder
ick, later admitted somewhat
sheepishly that he told his daughter to
quit after the last state pageant. She
was runner-up several times in her
home state of Arkansas before win
ning the Missouri state pageant after
entering school there.
“I’m glad she ignored me,” he
said, beaming.
Karamazov Brothers perform at Kimball
Juggling, jokes entertain crowd
By Kelly Anders
Staff Reporter
Who can tap dance, ptay the har
monica, sing, iuggle and chew
“hardened gum simultaneously?
The Flying Karamazov Brothers.
The quartet showed its mastery of
these and many more feats during a
delightful performance Sunday at
Kimball Recital Hall.
ktn?M
As the lights grew dim at the
show's 3 p.m. start, the audience
chuckled as a voice said a few words
of introduction in English and
slaughtered French. Then the troupe
popped out of the back of five giant
juggling pins and a lavender curtain
and kept the nearly so Id -out crowd
peroetually entertained.
the slapstick crew of “Dmitri” -
Paul David Magid, “Fyodor” -
Timothy Fursl, “Ivan” — Howard
Jay Patterson and “Smerdyakov” --
Sam Williams, all excellent jugglers
and pretty decent musicians and
comedians, combined their talents
quite creatively.
Juggling and jabs galore ensued as
the troupe wowed onlookers by rap
idly tossing juggling pins in various
formations and telling many jokes
with sarcastic and adult undertones
that the audience, at least one-fourth
of which was children, probably
missed.
During “The Gamble,” for ex
ample, the audience was asked to
bring objects “heavier than an ounce,
lighter than 10 pounds and no bigger
than a breadbox ” for the' ‘champ^to
juggle. After someone brought a
piece of paper,” “Ivan” said, “Have
n’t you seen an ounce before?”
“ The Gamble ” was without ques
tion the show’s highlight. The audi
ence selected a record album, balloon
and slinky for the “champ”
(“Ivan”) to juggle for 10 counts and
receive a standing ovation, or fail and
receive a pie in the face. He received
the latter to roars of laughter, claps
and whistles.
In another hilarious segment,
“Dmitri” was shot and yelled an
explitive. “Ivan” reprimanded him
for say ing such a thing onstage during
a “family show in Nebraska,” so he
limped offstage and said it again.
Before the short intermission, the
group sang “Somewhere Out in the
Lobby” a cappella to the tune of
“Somewhere Over the Rainbow.”
The lyrics were amusing and the har
monizing was good.
Simultaneous juggling and drum
ming kicked off act two. While
‘‘Dmitri,” “Fyodor” and
“Smerdyakov” tossed pins and beat
garbage cans, “Ivan’^ played the
trumpet. It was understandable that
the music wasn’t the most compli
cated compilation; combining such
activities was difficult in itself.
The group balanced platters on
noses and brooms on fingers during a
skit in which classical and punkish
music and facial expressions did the
talking. As the wild one, “Dmitri”
pretended to bite the head off of a
small statue in the Ozzy Osbourne
bathead-biting tradition; he also kept
sticking his tongue out Kiss-style.
How “Fyodor” managed to balance
three trays, several vases, three stat
ues and a bottle on his nose remains a
mystery.
The French language was killed a
second time during the “jazz” piece.
Everyone laughed at the guys* cool
shades and beatnik dialogue.
Smerdyakov slipped in a bit of
high-brow humor during “Pass the
Buck. ” As the pins, or “ bucks, ’' kept
dropping, he said, “I guess it doesn’t
go as far is it used to.” Funny and
true.
The Finale of the program in
volved synthesizers “for the techni
cally pretentious. ” This segment was
perhaps the most creative of all.
The brothers wore helmets and
bashed their heads to bring out notes
from the synthesizer. To the audi
ence’s amazement, they ended up
playing a classical tune. Impressive.
Then they incorporated drum
machines into the act. The group
juggled to beat the drums, the mem
bers bashed their bodies and sang an
original and pretty funky piece called
“Gotta Learn to Juggle.’’ “Fyodor”
danced on a huge synthesizer to play
his notes, like Tom Hanks did in the
film, “Big.”
After such hard work and creativ
ity, the Flying Karamazov Brothers
bowed to a well-deserved standing
ovation. A pleasant way to spend a
couple of hours on a Sunday after
noon.
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